Review Category : Local News

Cooper Tire and Rubber has named a new treasurer. Tom Lause, who has been serving as the controller of global operations, was named to the role yesterday. He’ll continue in that role until a replacement can be found. Lause will also assume responsibility for the tax function at Cooper.

Lause is taking the role after Brad Hughes was named president of international operations.

Marathon Petroleum is making a move to help finance the buyout of Hess Corporation retail stores. Marathon has priced nearly $2 billion in unsecured senior notes in a public offering. Unsecured notes are loans that aren’t secured by the issuer’s assets.

A $700 million loan will also be used to help fund the purchase.

The investment is expected to payoff big for Marathon. Industry analysts believe Marathon’s Speedway stores will double their $14.5 billion dollars in sales once the Hess locations are added to the company. Speedway stores are primarily based in the midwest, where Hess stores are located in the east and the south.

The University of Findlay will host Japanese governor Kiyoshi Ueda this weekend.

Ueda is from the Saitama Prefecture in Japan and will be a part of a number of discussions the public is invited to Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the Ritz Auditorium in Old Main on Findlay’s campus.

UF is a part of the Ohio Saitama University Scholarship progam and hosts three students from Saitama annually.

A two-vehicle crash in Putnam County Wednesday morning killed a Columbus Grove man.

According to the state highway patrol, 80-year-old Adrian Birkemier of Columbus Grove was northbound on State Route 115 at about 5:30 a.m. 36-year-old Shane Baker of Fremont, Indiana was backing his commercial truck and trailer into a private drive off of 115. Birkemier’s vehicle struck the trailer, lodging the car underneath it.

Birkemier was trapped in his vehicle and the jaws of life were used to free him. Birkemier was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing his seatbelt properly.

A controller from the Federal Aviation Administration heard from Bronnenmeier at 1:09 a.m. and cleared him for approach to the Bluffton Airport, where the plane was headed after leaving from Holland, Michigan. The report said there was no distress call or indication of in-flight difficulties from Bronnenmeier.

Craig Butler, director of the Ohio EPA said things like composting cafeteria waste, changing light and water fixtures benefits the company as well as the environment.

Marathon vice president of environmental health safety and security John Swearingen said last year alone employees at the Findlay office recycled over 100 tons of paper, plastics and aluminum cans and also eliminated the use of 400,000 styrofoam cups by implementing a reusable coffee mug program.

Kenton police officers dealt with a hostage situation Tuesday afternoon. Kentontoday.com reports officers were called to a North Oak Street home. When they arrived they found a man acting erratically. The man took a woman in the house hostage.

A special response team was called in to handle the situation. The negotiations broke down and officers stormed the home. The suspect and several officers suffered minor injuries in the incident.

Two institutions in our area are getting grants as part of the Honor Project. The City Mission in Findlay and Tiffin University are among the 226 entities in Ohio that will receive money.

The Honor Project is a trust that pays out money from a lawsuit filed by the state of Ohio against American International Group Inc. In 2010 the state argued American International conspired with a broker to eliminate competition in the commercial casualty insurance industry.

North Baltimore might start fining railroad companies that block crossings in the village for too long. The Courier reports village council has agreed to consider legislation to enact the fines. Residents have been getting frustrated by trains that block the crossings. In some instances emergency vehicles have been detoured to I-75 to avoid backups.

Police Chief Allan Baer says Ohio law allows fines to be levied in these instances.

Emergency crews were on the scene of a serious accident in Putnam County this morning. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office reports the crash happened just before 6a.m. on State Route 115 south of Kalida near Sarka Electric.